That house, along with the remote mountaintop location of Allaire Studios in upstate New York where the album was recorded under Antonoff’s wing, seems to animate the atmosphere of Sling as much as any lived experiences. (Rostam wouldn’t have let this fly, but Antonoff loves a scribble - the emotional resonance the song shares with Chemtrails is striking.)Īfter a year spent in lockdown with her family, Cottrill understandably made changes to the architecture of her personal life, committing to care for Joanie, and opting to split time between a Brooklyn apartment and renovating her newly-purchased house on a five-acre plot in a tiny Massachusetts town. It’s a playful, off-the-wall kind of track, and an indication of just how different this record is from her stark, shimmering 2019 debut, Immunity. Over what could be a Billy Joel piano riff, Cottrill harmonizes with herself on her dog’s namesake tune, foregoing lyrics for the sake of the melody’s own storytelling. Even the album artwork centers this caretaker relationship, with Claire gazing down, a latent paw indicating Joanie’s presence. Except Clairo found meaningful companionship in the meantime, not just in best friends and sometimes bandmates of Claud and Josh Mehling, but in caring for an adopted rescue dog, Joanie. Isn’t the mother the dichotomous opposite of the whore?įor Sling, the would-be pop star has turned to the piano palette of Randy Newman, Jackson Browne, and Carole King, as a late 2020 King/Browne cover hinted, employing honeyed ‘70s melancholia to chronicle her own shift from glum dorm-room phenom to the splendid isolation of a listless twenty-something. Committing to care for herself and others is a way of reclaiming a connection to the joy of youth, a respite from the calculating prurience of record labels. She prefaces that thought with the implied premise: “‘There’s a lot more that we can squeeze out of her before she’s done.’” Within that context, it’s not surprising that a famous teen - crowned the next big indie star, then immediately torn down for her father’s corporate connections - would eventually fantasize about a life of rural domesticity. “What this industry does a lot is drain young women of everything until they’re not youthful any more,” Cottrill remarked to The Guardian in one of her few interviews in support of her second album as Clairo. On Sling, Clairo is weary and absconding - both suit her incredibly well.Īt 22, Claire Cottrill is still young, two years younger than her frequently-cited peer and now collaborator, Lorde, though the two women share the unsettling-but-coveted experience of teenage stardom. Or, simply absconded away from the unsafe offices of leering executives, opting to pursue a different kind of life. Older generations have grown weary, or wiser, in the fight. Perhaps it’s young women who are the most shocked by how little the status quo of sexism and misogyny seems to change, despite lip service to the contrary. Movements like #MeToo and an increased emphasis on diversity and equality have reflected a more public longing for a cultural shift, but not much has budged. With “ Blouse,” the sole single released from her sophomore album, Sling, Clairo adds her own grievances to that lengthy petition. The scrutiny that young women - hell, all women – face within the music industry is well-documented. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year.
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